The Diocese of Toronto’s 163rd Regular Session of Synod is being held Nov. 7-8 at the Sheraton Parkway Toronto North hotel in Richmond Hill. Here are some of the highlights from the first day.
Synod starts with Eucharist and Bishop’s Charge
Synod started with a worship service that included a land acknowledgement and the Bishop’s Charge. In his Charge, Bishop Andrew Asbil spoke about the Diocese being on a pilgrimage since the COVID-19 pandemic. Inspired by John 21 and the Cast the Net visioning process, the Diocese and parishes are engaging with the 20 Calls, which were unanimously endorsed by Synod in 2023. The calls focus on four areas of mission and ministry: renewing spirituality; inspiring faith in action; reimagining ministry; and transforming diocesan culture. Bishop Asbil gave examples of how the calls are being lived out. Initiatives include the Season of Creation’s 40 workshops and five Lift Up Our Hearts services; St. George, Grafton providing food and funding to a Habitat for Humanity build; St. Stephen in-the-Field, Toronto supporting the homeless; the Diocese hiring a DEI advisor; hybrid ministry; and regionalization. He thanked the clergy and deacons, Synod Office staff, the chancellor and his wife Mary. “My love for you grows day by day,” he told them.
Honorary secretaries announced
The honorary secretaries for this Synod are the Rev. Canon Lisa Newland (honorary clerical secretary), Constance Kendall, ODT (honorary lay secretary) and the Rev. Jason Prisley (assistant honorary clerical secretary).
Sponsors thanked
The honorary secretaries thanked the sponsors of Synod, which include The Anglican Diocese of Toronto Foundation, Ecclesiastical Insurance, M&M International, Plan to Protect, Trinity College and Wycliffe College. The sponsors have helped to offset the costs of Synod.
Information and voting platform explained
JP Copeland from Data on the Spot walked Synod members through Synod’s new information and voting platform. The platform allows Synod members to vote, view documents, see the Synod schedule, enjoy Call and Response Moments and more.
Consent Agenda approved
Synod approved the Consent Agenda for the 163rd Regular Session of Synod. It includes several non-controversial items that are grouped together. It can be found in Section A of the Convening Circular, pages 17-18, and is also on the Synod platform under Documents.
Synod Council’s Report to Synod presented
The honorary secretaries presented Synod Council’s Report to Synod, which can be found in Section B of the Convening Circular and on the Synod platform. The report outlines the work done by Synod Council between Synods. It covers activities from July 2023 to June 2025. During that time, the Synod Council had 17 meetings, including one in-person meeting and eight email polls. Highlights of the council’s work included: the Cast the Net Working Group has completed its mandate and a new group, the Netminders, has been formed to tend to Cast the Net’s vision and its 20 Calls; the Areas and Area Council Working Group continues its work and will make a presentation at this at Synod; Synod Council continued to do its work between Synods – approving Cast and Learn grants, MAF grants and Stretch grants, and continuing to work with the Human Resources, Finance, Risk and Governance and Property committees as they support ministry in the Diocese.
Synod thanks bishop
Archdeacon Cheryl Palmer, speaking on behalf of Synod members, thanked Bishop Asbil for his leadership. Bishop Asbil is now in the eighth year of his episcopacy. “Our love for you increases day by day,” she said. Synod gave Bishop Asbil a standing ovation.
Call and Response Moment
After lunch, Synod enjoyed a Call and Response Moment, which shows how churches and groups in the Diocese are responding to Cast the Net’s 20 calls to action. In this moment, Synod members watched a video about the Durham Region Migrant Workers Ministry. The work shown in the video reflects calls 4,7,9,10 and 13.
Reconciliation Land Tithe extended
Synod approved Motion #2, which commits to a continuation of the Reconciliation Land Tithe through Synod 2027. The motion reads as follows: “It is moved and seconded that, whereas the Diocese of Toronto is committed to upholding our sacred obligations to reconciliation, we commit to a continuation of the Reconciliation Land Tithe through Synod 2027. With the oversight of the Reconciliation Land Tithe Committee and Synod Council, we will continue to commit the balance of the MAF tithe (on a rolling basis) for the purpose of Indigenous-led initiatives. The extension of Motion 12 (2021) from 2026 forward to 2027 will support Synod Council and the Reconciliation Land Tithe Committee so that, in 2027, a new motion may be presented that embeds permanent funding for reconciliation with Indigenous peoples into the life of our Church.”
The Rev. Samantha Caravan and the Rev. Leigh Kern of the Reconciliation Land Tithe Committee spoke about the work of the committee and the funds that have been distributed to date. They said the tithe is part of a commitment to address the Church’s historic privilege and the imbalance of power. It is a practical expression of restitution for land dispossession and redistribution of wealth, and an expression of a deeper movement for recognizing Indigenous sovereignty and repudiating the Doctrine of Discovery. Their presentation included a powerful video about the Residential Schools and the devastation they caused to Indigenous children and their families.
Housekeeping changes approved
Synod approved Motion #3, dealing with housekeeping changes to the Constitution and Canons. The motion can be found in Section E of the Convening Circular.
Call and Response Moment
Synod members watched a video about Little Trinity church and its Good Food Market, which reflected Calls 4,5 and 13 of Cast the Net’s 20 Calls.
Members Time gives voice to issues
During a 30-minute Members Time, Synod members spoke about many issues, including: personal tithing to Indigenous-led initiatives as a way of reconciliation; affordable housing; creation care and the Communion Forest movement; retired clergy voting at Synod; Anglican, Lutheran and Moravian collaboration; the good work done in regional ministry; COP 30 and climate change; General Synod’s motion on an arms embargo on Israel; refugees; a book on theology and AI; youth speaking about their faith; the sacredness of the Eucharist; churches that attract young people; read and pray about the Israel/Palestine conflict before writing to leaders.
Companion diocese brings greetings
Bishop Mauricio Andrada brought greetings from the Diocese of Brasilia, which is the companion diocese of the Diocese of Toronto. The companionship is now well into its second year and will continue until 2031. Before the video, the Rev. Pam Trondson of the Diocese of Toronto spoke about the companionship, which has included monthly online meetings, in-person visits, an online theology day and a priest from Basilia giving the keynote address at the Diocese of Toronto’s outreach and advocacy conference. She spoke about future initiatives, including a visit by people of the Diocese of Toronto to Brasilia in the summer of 2026.
Season of Spiritual Renewal presented
The Rev. Canon Philip Der and the Rev. Canon Jennifer Schick gave a presentation about the Season of Spiritual Renewal, which is Call 1 of Cast the Net’s 20 Calls. Their presentation included prayers for spiritual renewal and a video clip showing the Rev. Canon Stephanie Douglas talking about the season’s helpful resources. The season focused on prayer, scripture, worship and evangelism. The season included 40 workshops, booklets and other resources and five special worship services, which attracted about 1,600 people. The season has provided hope and inspiration to Anglicans in the Diocese, they said. Thanks went to the Rev. Canon Dr. Judy Paulsen, Jackie Hance, Bishop Asbil and Canon Mary Conliffe.
Synod hears about the Netminders
The Rev. Canon Pamela Rayment, the Rev. Yohan Dumpala and Deborah Whalen-Blaize spoke about the work of the Netminders, a group of clergy, laity and Synod Office staff who have been brought together to tend to Cast the Net and its 20 Calls. The Cast the Net visioning process, which was held from 2022-2024, included consultations with more than 1,000 participants and resulted in the new vision statement for the Diocese – “Followers of Jesus, inspired by the Holy Spirit, serve the world God loves!” – and 20 calls to action. The vision and the 20 Calls were unanimously endorsed by Synod in 2023. The 20 Calls are grouped into four areas – renewing spirituality, inspiring faith in action, transforming diocesan culture, and reimagining ministry – and at the centre of them is the Good News of Jesus Christ. In a 2025 pastoral letter to vestries, the bishops encouraged parishes to engage with a call or two. To help with this, the Netminders have created some resources, including a discussion guide, a poster and a video, all of which are available on the Cast the Net page of the Diocese’s website. After Synod, the Netminders will continue to support and encourage engagement with the calls. “We will amplify, celebrate and share the story of how living the calls is helping us to tell the good story, which is the ongoing work of those learning to follow Jesus.”
Breakout sessions focus on 20 Calls
After the Netminders presentation, Synod members went into 50-minute breakout groups to talk about the calls and what their parishes were doing. Most of the sessions dealt with more than one call. The hope was to begin ongoing conversations across the diocese about the calls. Highlights from these gatherings will inform the Netminders’ as they focus on efforts moving forward.
Primate addresses Synod
After a banquet dinner, Synod resumed in the evening with Archbishop Shane Parker, Primate of Canada, as the guest speaker. Quoting from Prof. Henry Chadwick, a New Testament scholar at Cambridge University, he said the Church was like a stained glass window. “A stained glass window reflects the light, reflects the goodness of the gospel, the love and compassion and gentleness and mercy and courage and justice of God,” said Archbishop Parker. “But in this world, the same glass that is the stuff of the Church needs to be held by oak and iron, otherwise it will just fall to the ground.”
Archbishop Parker said the Diocese’s Cast the Net vision has a good balance between addressing the oak and the iron – the structure, the canon lawn, the programs and the good order of the Church – and allowing the stained glass of spirituality, of justice, to shine. “The 20 Calls, I think, are conscious of both aspects that we must pay attention to at this time, especially, I believe, the oak and the iron.”
He congratulated Synod members on the vision and 20 calls. “You recognized that you have to pay attention to the stained glass, but you also have to look at the oak and iron which supports it. You have to look at property and structures and the way parishes are configured and where ministry is happening – all of those things that support the stained glass.”
Bishop names new canons
The following were made canons of St. James Cathedral by Bishop Asbil:
- The Rev. Canon Dr. Christopher Brittain, Dean of Divinity at Trinity College
- The Rev. Canon Kenute Francis, St. Hilda, Fairbank
- The Rev. Canon Daniel Graves, Trinity Church, Aurora and St. James the Apostle, Sharon
- The Rev. Canon Dr. Robert Hurkmans, Trinity, Streetsville
- The Rev. Canon Dr. Isaac Kawuki-Mukasa, St. James the Apostle, Brampton
- The Rev. Canon Dr. Patrick McManus, All Saints, Kingsway
- The Rev. Canon Julie Meakin, Holy Family, Heart Lake (Brampton)
- The Rev. Canon Pamela Rayment, St. Clement, Eglinton
- The Rev. Canon Jennifer Schick, All Saints, Whitby
- Major The Rev. Canon Bradley Smith, St. John the Evangelist, Peterborough
- The Rev. Canon Susan Spicer, St. John, Ida and St. Luke, Peterborough
- The Rev. Canon Michael Van Dusen, St. Aidan, Toronto
- Canon Sister Elizabeth Rolfe-Thomas, Sisterhood of St. John the Divine
Prayers end day
The evening ended with night prayers by members of the Bishop’s Youth Ministry Committee.
